Letter: Wisconsin's redistricting process is a farce that needs changing

Urge changes to state redistricting

EDITOR: Three judges - two of whom were appointed by Republican presidents - on a federal court panel hearing a challenge to Wisconsin's Republican-led redistricting harshly criticized the costly, secretive, and "peculiarly furtive process" used by the GOP in drawing and defending the maps. Court filings from April 2013 showed someone using login credentials for GOP staffers on GOP computers, through "inadvertence or ineptitude, or otherwise," deleted, in defiance of court orders, hundreds of thousands of GOP redistricting-related documents just before the deadline for turning the documents over to the other side.

The court said, "Quite frankly, the Legislature and the actions of its counsel give every appearance of flailing wildly in a desperate attempt to hide from both the court and the public the true nature of exactly what transpired in the redistricting process."

Iowa is praised for its redistricting process. Its nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency draws congressional and state legislative lines, keeping county lines entact. The Legislature accepts or rejects the plan without amendment. This process does not use political data, protect incumbents or seek partisan gain. Alternatives to Iowa's redistricting process include proportional voting in "super districts," putting voters in control of their representation rather than those drawing winner-take-all election lines. See more information at FairVote.org.

Contact legislators to demand implementation of a nonpartisan, transparent, less expensive redistricting process. As the federal court stated in its June 3 ruling, "We cannot help but conclude that the people of Wisconsin deserve better in the next round of redistricting after the 2020 census."

Jeanne Larson,

Phillips

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Letter: Wisconsin's redistricting process is a farce that needs changing

EDITOR: Three judges ? two of whom were appointed by Republican presidents ? on a federal court panel hearing a challenge to Wisconsin's Republican-led redistricting harshly criticized the costly,

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